


nothing to say (nothing to hear)

by omaeda



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: (only mentioned), Alternate Universe - A Quiet Place, Apocalypse, Birthday, Domestic, M/M, Minor Character Death, Post-Canon, can be interpreted as platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 18:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19910338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omaeda/pseuds/omaeda
Summary: In a world where sound is deadly and the future is bleak, Wataru and Eichi find home and hope in themselves.Alternatively,Celebrating a birthday in the middle of the apocalypse doesn't sound fun.





	nothing to say (nothing to hear)

**Author's Note:**

> based on the movie a quiet place that came out last year!! (i Hope i wrote this well enough that anyone that hasnt watched it could understand whats going on hhh)

‘It’s going to be my birthday soon, Wataru. :)’

Eichi stares at what he’s written for a few moments and sighs before reaching for the eraser. _So what?_ he thinks to himself.

January 8

On dead days like this, the timid ticking of the analogue clock is the only sound allowed to be heard.

It’s a few minutes past six post meridiem and when Eichi feels a light tap on his shoulder, he doesn’t have to look to know it’s Wataru coming back to let him know it’s time to go downstairs.

Eichi - all not before settling his pen down on the table and quickly blocking its path before it rolls all the way to the floor with a soft release of relieved breath; he sweeps it to the middle of the notebook where it’s safe - holds the chair he’s sitting on with both hands when he stands up, slightly lifting it from the ground to settle it back down a step behind. He does it carefully, making sure not to create much noise with his chair that might rasp against the wooden floor as it is dragged.

Leaving his desk behind, he trails behind the older. Two pairs of socked feet are one-by-one stepping on the floor gently, soundless like they were burglars trying to steal something from a wide-awake family in the daytime. They pass by the doorway, passing by the calendar hanging by a nail on the door that is never to be closed due to its potential creakiness.

It’s another lonely Monday and Wataru, right on schedule, has made dinner for just the both of them.

It’s sad.

Before, they had two other people living with them, and not just any people, but friends – even close enough to be considered family. They had two other friends to share chores with (although Yuzuru would often take on his young master’s responsibilities out of habit), but now there are only two of them left - two of them communicating with their whiteboards, two of them to comfort each other and wipe the other’s tears, two of them suffering alone together, two of them constantly thinking about how to give the other a reason to live.

It’s lonely making breakfast, lunch and dinner for just two people. It’s much less work but they’d trade ease or anything for that matter just to bring the other two back.

They sit on two seats next to each other; they are facing the indifferent emptiness of the other side, mocking them. It’s a big table, and they hate how useless it’s become now, only reminding them of what once were there and are never to come back, using it only as a couple left behind by their brothers.

It’s only been a few weeks, but even then no amount of time could possibly heal this wound. Eichi looks at the empty seats before them in dismay – _maybe if I was there to protect them as the elder, maybe if I was gone instead, maybe if I_ – and when threatening tears sting his eyes, before they fall he tilts his head up, blinking frantically until the tears slide back in.

When he turns to face his side, he sees Wataru with his eyes closed. His head is bowed; his palms are pressed together, upright; and his lips move out of habit, reciting his prayers, but he’s trained. He’s careful not to speak a single word, not to let any sound slip out of his mouth along with the air. With a hand, he touches his forehead, moves down to his chest then from his right shoulder to his left. Not that he’s always been a man of the faith, but when you’re living in an ending world where you’re reminded of your impending death every waking moment, it’s your last resort.

Wataru opens his eyes and looks at the other, noticing the obvious gloom in Eichi’s eyes. He picks up the whiteboard on his lap, takes the marker tucked in his pocket and with a few strokes quickly writes out an ‘It’s ok.’ He looks at it for a second before doodling a little star beside it and raising it up, face level, to Eichi, who still gloomily nods in response, then, he lays it down again. He puts his hand on top of the other’s, giving it a small squeeze.

If ‘It’s ok’ means they will get out of this alive someday in the near or far future - not just alive but happy, happy like how they were before –

Wataru is lying.

Eichi knows this, they both do, but they decide to keep telling themselves that just to keep each other sane.

Then again, sanity in itself is merely one cosy lie.

January 9, 2020

Wataru nearly panics when he wakes up to the other side of the bed sans the familiar weight of the other pulling down on it. He always wakes up first – out of habit and instinct to always be there to protect the other – so it’s nothing familiar to having nothing but an empty space and a rumpled blanket beside him.

It is – rather, was - usually Eichi being in charge of everything – in the student council alongside Keito, and in fine back when they were still in Yumenosaki. Eichi had to act strong and domineering, if you will, even keeping mum about his illness so as not to worry the fans, but now that it’s only the two of them, Wataru could see how vulnerable and fragile he became – not to mention he’s still ill, and took on the responsibility of taking care of him.

His eyes dart across the room and on the door the calendar is marked with another red X for the day. Right beside the bottle of medicine Eichi has to take daily, his whiteboard and its marker are left on the table. It’s something crucial to them, as their only medium of communication besides their lacking body language. He takes his own before going out, slipping on shoes, careful not to make them clack too much.

He finds Eichi out on the porch, protruding rays of sunlight hitting his seemingly black eyes brown and his soft hair dancing along to the cool breeze, almost in sync with how the grass on their lawn do, with no time to be mowed.

He’s just sitting there; he seems focused but his eyes are really looking at nothing in particular, lost in his thoughts. He’s slouching against the back of the chair, tapping his foot on the floor out of bad habit, but slowly, mindful enough to not make a noise.

He takes a breath of fresh air, holds it there a little, and breathes out.

Wataru sits on the chair next to him, lifting it up first to move it closer until the arms of the chairs are against each other; when he’s seated their shoulders are brushing.

Eichi turns his head to face Wataru. Before he could pop out the cap of the marker to scribble down a ‘What’s wrong?’ Eichi’s same old gloomy eyes answer him without a word.

There’s no happy ending for them. It’s either of two possibilities: they end up getting killed soon, or they live away the rest of their lives – Eichi going first – in lonely silence and maybe waiting for someone to find and save them somehow. If you think about it, the second option doesn’t sound that appealing either: day by day waking up just to exist. It merely seems pointless now and although none of them would admit it out loud, they know they wouldn’t mind ending this suffering, yet they accept the struggle to do the same old things every day, making sure they’re still breathing just for the other.

Wataru had said Eichi taught him that reality is more beautiful than fantasy. Now neither of them are sure. The reality is they’re living just to breathe. They’re living just to say they’re not dead and to stay in the world that has rendered them abandoned and left them behind.

Eichi was always one to value life, after the countless IV shots and nights spent bored out of his mind in the hospital resulting in countless attempts of sneaking out just to go to school . . . Eichi, he used to live for his dream, he lived to sing and dance, to perform, to use his voice and body in ways not all could – and just unlike most of the world months ago, he’s alive, but what use would his dream be now when he has no one to hear him, no one to stand on stage with? Really, only unless one’s dream were the impossible one to save the world, what use would anyone’s dream be now?

What use would a stage be without an audience?

‘Come with me~ ☆’

Later that night, Wataru appears standing in the doorway.

Eichi, lying on the bed, has to squint to see what Wataru had written on the whiteboard he’s holding up for him. He stands up, putting his book down on the bed, making sure he’s made a small fold on the corner of the page he’s on to come back to. Standing up and walking out the room, he passes by the calendar again, getting reminded of the date once again.

He sees that one red X mark away from the tenth, taunting him.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he follows Wataru who starts walking. Eichi raises an eyebrow when they find themselves in front of the doorway that leads to the basement. It’s the hardest part of the house to walk to, this particular staircase being the creakiest out of all the others in this place.

There’s nothing different in the room from the last time he’s seen it, besides the cobwebs on the corners of the ceiling that seem to have doubled until they are thick and tangible as they are now.

Eichi lets out a quiet sigh of relief once he’s reached the floor, having made it safe. Something familiar in the corner of his eye catches his attention. A worn-out notebook was on the desk, opened on a page full of scribbles and musical scores, painfully reminding him of someone. _Is he even alive . . ?_

He raises an eyebrow and before he could ask, Wataru holds up a familiar object to his face.

It’s an earphone.

Eyes sparkling with wonder, Eichi mouths a “woah” at the sight of it.

Putting a hand on Eichi's waist and pulling him closer, Wataru’s eyes turn into crescent moons as he gently tucks a lock of faded pink hair behind Eichi's ear to slide the earphone in with his free hand; the other earphone he puts in his own ear.

With the same hand he pulls out an MP3 player from his pocket and presses on the play button before taking the other's hand in his own - to which Eichi puts his free hand on Wataru's shoulder. It’s a miracle that it’s still working, much more that Wataru even has one. The last time Eichi saw one, he was barely in their 10s; and even their cellphones didn’t survive the crash.

A familiar sound pours in and fills their ears and Eichi's breath hitches in his throat in panic before he remembers only they can hear the sound and not the monsters thirsty for blood. Wataru's thumb rubs circles on the back of Eichi's hand, mouthing "It's okay, it's okay." until Eichi's breathing returns to normal.

They are safe.

And for the first time in months, they are allowed to listen. Listen to music. To something else that’s not the rustling of the trees or gentle footsteps or creaking doors or stair steps.

They are hearing actual sounds in their ears. And it's beautiful.

Leading the other, Wataru sways left and right to the slow beat of the music, reminding themselves of one of the most memorable nights of any teenager’s life, which was back then when they were happy, when they were truly alive. The idol course was all-boys, and they already had so many events, so they didn’t have one, but they convinced the teachers to let them go the night of the regular course’s promenade. Eichi closes his eyes, imagining being clad in a suit and tie, in the dim auditorium illuminated by bright strobes flashing across the place as they danced to the same exact song playing right now blasted on the speakers, burying under it the cacophony of conversations.

Eichi was Wataru’s first and last dance that night.

Now Eichi’s the only person Wataru can ever dance with.

Meanwhile tears are welling up in Eichi’s eyes, threatening to release; he looks up as he blinks rapidly. It’s overwhelming. He never realised how much he misses sound and company until now. His hand is trembling in Wataru’s and he bows his head, looking down at the floor.

After their prom song, comes on shuffle Neo Sanctuary. It’s from two years ago, this song fine worked on together - before sound was deadly, before they had to fear for their lives.

As soon as Eichi hears Yuzuru’s voice starting the song, a tear runs down his cheek, dripping on his shirt. His breathing becomes ragged and his hands are trembling more and more as each second passes. Wataru opens his eyes, he stops swaying and pulls the younger in his arms for a tight embrace as the recorded voices of their friends play through their ears. Eichi holds onto Wataru like he’s his lifeline.

” _To question a dream while facing the beacon of the end - such an idea is as foolish as it is precious.”_

January 10, 2020

As per normal, Eichi wakes up by himself on the bed. When he stretches his limbs he almost kicks a piece of paper Wataru put right next to his foot. He stretches a little bit more as one of his hands rubs the sleep on his eyes off before he sits up, letting his legs dangle off the bed. He takes the note Wataru left and holds it at face level. He squints as he reads it.

‘Come to the porch :D’ it said.

Inhaling and exhaling first, he attempts to clear his mind before he goes down. He tries to not let his eyes linger on the calendar right in front of him for too long.

He stands up and takes a coat from the hanger, throwing it over his shoulder. Then he takes the marker to put a big X on the number 10 and hurriedly rushes out once he does, ignoring the small ‘19th’ note under it – he might as well ignore as the small “Tori’s 17th” under the 13th of January along with it.

However how out of sight it may be is it not out of mind.

As the coat is being slid through a pair of arms, the one pair of socked feet is stepping on the floor hastily, carelessly like it were intended to make sound. He doesn’t care if it all were to end right now. Nevertheless, his human instincts help himself snap back to his own senses when he hears that familiar rustle and he freezes in place, images of his friends flashing in his eyes.

He finds Wataru on the porch, dressed up and waiting for him, who gestures for him to put on some shoes.

“Let’s go outside,” Wataru mouths and takes Eichi by the hand before he could say no. He walks them through the green field of what they’re uncertain of if it were mostly grass or weeds that have grown so much taller since the last time they were mowed which would be about a year ago.

Legs being tickled as they moved through the barely visible rocky pathway leading to the gate, the younger of the two is already nervous to see what the other had planned for him as they had to go outside. They rarely go any further from the big fence surrounding their land as they could already get their food from their backyard where they taught themselves how to farm. It’s all fruits and vegetables, but it’s better than nothing.

Wataru puts his backpack, which Eichi has now only noticed, he’s been holding by the straps, on his shoulders before he unlocks the fence and carefully pushes the small wooden door wide open as he walks out. He keeps holding it open until Eichi has gone out, and there he closes it. He locks the fence again from outside, arm reaching as far as it can.

There’s the very subtle sound of feet crushing under them the piled up crisp leaves, most of which are faded green but the newer ones at the top are significantly more orange, signalling the impending change of seasons from summer to autumn. Rays of sunlight are struggling to pass through the thick canopy of leaves from high above, sparsely scattering on the ground below like areas of small natural limelights.

They keep on moving forward, only Wataru aware of the destination the path they’re treading is leading them to. Eichi’s hands keep fidgeting as he persistently keeps turning to look left, right and behind them against Wataru’s constant reassurances that they are safe.

When a quick spark of white appears right in front of Eichi’s eyes, a choked gasp comes out of his mouth, causing instant anxiety and an increased heart rate, as he stumbled backwards, almost falling if it weren’t for Wataru catching him then pulling him closer. The dove, with a couple more flaps of its wings reaches and perches on a branch. It seems to be looking at them.

Wataru almost flinches when he realises what the bird is, but he doesn’t let it show.

He misses them, his pets . . .

Eichi spaces out, looking into nowhere, hand on his mouth to prevent himself from letting any more sound slip out, and lets his parasympathetic nerves take the lead in putting his body back into its previous relaxed state. Wataru looks at the celebrant very worriedly, he holds his hand gently and squeezes it, and for perhaps the hundredth time he tells him they’re alright and he’s here to protect him.

Splash.

Eichi’s eyes widen when he hears the familiar sound of the unstill river splashing against the rocks on the bank. Before he could try to grab the other to retreat the area, Wataru properly spoke to him for the first time in months.

“It’s alright.”

Instantly at the sound of the other’s voice, Eichi’s hand rushes to cover his mouth on reflex, but he immediately pulls it back. “Are you crazy?” he just mouths, refusing to talk, eyes darting left and right in anticipation for the deadly creatures to come darting towards them.

“It’s okay, we can talk! As long as there’s something louder around you, talking is safe,” Wataru explains before putting his hands on both sides of his mouth and yelling a loud “Isn’t this AMAZING?” but not louder than the river to demonstrate his point.

Eichi doesn’t realise he’s been holding his breath till there’s a stinging in his chest that’s frantically begging for him to _breathe_ , which he does moments after he realises that nothing’s coming for them and he, in fact, isn’t dying today right when he’s just turned nineteen. “What,” he whispers quietly with more than a tinge of uncertainty audible in his voice.

“That’s really the first thing you say? No ‘Thank you, Wataru’, ‘I love you, Wataru’?” Wataru points out, eyes forming crescents as he laughs – and oh, God, it really is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world and Eichi’s missed hearing it so much that now that he does he wants to cry and –

After this they find themselves sitting in a cave behind the waterfall, watching the water quickly cascading in front of them, making use of the mats that Wataru had brought with him in his backpack along with his magic wand, hat and other items to save for later. He knows Eichi missed watching him do his tricks.

Now, Eichi is resting his head on Wataru’s lap, looking up at the ceiling. Wataru’s playing with Eichi’s hair with one hand, the other hand holding Eichi’s. They’re just in each other’s company wrapped in a comfortable silence as they’re used to – ironic considering this is one of their few chances to speak out loud.

“Wataru?” Eichi starts.

“Hmm?”

Right there Eichi finally says out loud the three words they never fail to tell the other every day without actually saying.

“A twinkling trace of a dream from beyond the horizon,” instead of replying the usual way, Wataru starts to sing Eichi’s own song. He pauses to look down at Eichi who he smiles back at and urges to sing the next lines along with him. “Even though I understand...that it might just be an illusion -

_____"Today with you, I continue chasing it _."__

**Author's Note:**

> i havent written in like a year pls go easy on me TT  
> took the eng lyrics for neo sanctuary and shining star from the wiki!!  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/oshusan) and [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/shinkai)


End file.
